3 Tips to Get to Know Your Doctor
Here is a USA Weekend piece on the type of advice I give in Critical Decisions – how to make stronger connections with your doctor.
Many people die in ways, and even in locations, that go against their preferences. They don’t want to be put on ventilators and, yet, spend their last days in intensive care units tethered to breathing machines. They don’t want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and, yet, receive full-on “codes” when their hearts stop.
Much of this unwanted care could be avoided if patients (aka: “people”) discussed their treatment preferences with their clinicians.
The role of race in college and graduate school admissions remains controversial in the U.S. In fact, the Supreme Court is currently taking up a challenge to a University of Texas program that considers race in its admission decisions. Critics of race-based admissions question whether educational institutions would serve the goals of affirmative action better by…
At long last, my new book Critical Decisions is out there, ready to reach (fingers crossed!) a wide and appreciative audience. I’m really excited about this book. It pulls together ideas that have been smoldering in my brain for two decades — research, reflections and experiences (AKA “stories”). In the book, I relate the fascinating…
Patients often rely on physicians for information about their treatment alternatives. Unfortunately, that information is not always objective. Consider a man with early stage prostate cancer interested in surgical removal of his tumor, but uncertain whether it is better for the surgery to be performed with the help of robotic technology. He asks his surgeon…
My cancer journey began when I went to the bathroom and noticed bright red urine. I remember feeling simultaneously shocked because my urine was full of blood and disappointed that I hadn’t felt pain that would signal a benign problem like kidney stones. “Shit,” I thought to myself, “could I have cancer?” Read more here.
Elizabeth’s breast cancer had already spread to her bones and was now invading lymph nodes in her right armpit, causing painful swelling that kept her up at night. Today, however, as she walked into her oncologist’s office, Elizabeth felt like things were under control. “All right, so how is your arm?” the oncologist asked. “Actually,…